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Lot Essay

The central drawing to the top of this panel may be the design for the embroidery on the back of Napoleon's glove, worn in the famous Barron François Gérard painting of Napoleon in his coronation robes. These vestments belonged to the grand habillement worn during the ceremonies in Notre Dame on 2 December 1804. Napoleon and Joséphine wore the petit habillements both for the arrival and departure during the ceremonies, but changed into the grand habillement in the archbishop's palace.

Jean-Baptiste Isabey (d. 1855), who designed the coronation robes, was a friend of both Napoleon and Joséphine. In 1805 Isabey became Dessinateur du Cabinet et des Cérémonies, Directeur des Décorations de l'Opéra and Conservateur adjoint du Musée Impérial, and was as such responsible for organising all of their intimate and official parties at the Tuileries, Saint-Cloud and at Malmaison. He may, however, be best known for his outstanding miniatures, while he also professed in lithographies, oil painting and as a portrait painter. It was Vacher who supplied the fabric, Chevallier who tailored the robes and Picot who embroidered the patterns of Napoleon's robes.